Tuesday, April 29, 2008

"Christeen is one of a growing, albeit secretive, network of astrologerswho work for seemingly conservative British institutions such as high streetbanks, City investment funds and retailers. Desperate to avoid financialmeltdown in the ongoing ?credit crunch? and to spot fashions and consumer trendsbefore they start, these institutions have turned to the stars to divine thefuture.

“Most academics distrust astrology and regard it as mumbo-jumbo,” she says.“The thing is, it works. Nobody’s sure how it works but it does. Most of myclients are business people who are very canny. If it didn’t work for them, thenwhy would they use it?’

Another frightening case of the decline in intelligence. I vaguely recall writing on this subject a couple years ago. Certainly it is a symptom of the decline in the quality of investors.

“My attitude is that if you can test it, and it works, then it’s just anothertool that you can use to predict the direction of the markets,” he says."

Hitting yourself in the head with a ballpeen hammer eventually stops a headache, too. Seriously, do you know of the "San Jose Mercury News" dart throwers? Every year they pit the stock picks of a bunch of reporters throwing darts at a stock page, versus about 10 professional investors. 70% of the time, the dart throwers do the best after 1 year.

“It’s Mercury’s potential to wreak havoc that has led many world leaders andmilitary figures to plan their lives and campaigns to avoid its influence.Ronald Reagan and Boris Yeltsin would only travel and hold press conferenceswhen the planets, specifically Mercury, dictated."

A different Mercury. I'm pretty sure Yeltsin would only travel and do press interviews under the influence of a bottle of vodka, too. Reagan, of course, was under the influence of Nancy, who was a well-known astrologer under the influence of god-knows-what.

"Hitler, a keen user of astrology, notably failed to take into account Mercury’sinfluence. He launched the Battle of Britain and planned operation Sealion --the invasion of the UK -- just as Mercury turned retrograde. Both mistakes dealtserious blows to his plans for world domination."

Could it possibly be that the Brits just stopped his sorry ass, and Mercury had not a thing to do with it? You notice how the "reporter" is sympathetic to this drivel?

"According to the police in Brighton, a full moon brings out the worst in theBritish hooligan. Cases of anti-social behaviour rise noticeably and commandersroutinely deploy more police, hospitals prepare for a rise in casualties frompub brawls, and the fire brigade readies itself for more incidents. "

I dunno... I'm going out on a limb here and speculate that maybe the full moon makes it easier to see at night. Just a theory.

"Mars seems to have an uncanny correlation with over-achievement for those luckyenough to be born with the planet at certain critical astrological positions.The French statistician Michel Gauquelin discovered that the upper echelons ofnumerous sports, as well as the medical profession and the military, are stuffedfull of people with Mars in these locations. For example, Nick Faldo, OJ Simpsonand Muhammad Ali were all born with Mars in the requisite position."

THAT is the best they can come up with for "over-achievment"?? 2500 years of recorded human history, and we get "Nick Faldo"?

"Jim Porter, chief technical analyst for one of the UK’s largest banks, believesit does. He uses heliocentric magi astrology to predict the direction of theinternational financial markets. Millions of pounds worth of commodities, sharesand currencies are traded on his command. His decisions may affect the value ofyour pension, your home, and perhaps decide whether or not you have a jobtomorrow."

NOW I know why the economy is in the crapper. Where's my broker? SELL. I'm moving to Alaska.

"Jim has recently compiled a report for a major central bank charting the likelyeconomic trends of the coming few years. According to Jim’s forecasts, theeconomy and the financial and housing markets all face a rocky road and have adismal short-term future."

Seriously, is this a joke? Yes, with yahoos like this managing the money of the world, we face a dismal, short-term future. I'm reminded of Francisco d'Anconia's Money Speech in Atlas Shrugged -- when you abandon reason, money becomes its own avenger.

Britain's biggest banks use astrology to play the marketsWritten by Danny Penman

Christeen Skinner blinks at the screen of her computer and takes another slurp of coffee. It’s half past seven in the morning and she’s preparing for a crucial meeting with the chief executive of the High and Mighty fashion chain.

Apart from the black cat dozing on her lap, the only clue to Christeen’s occupation as a 21st century astrologer is a copy of an Ephemeris that lies open at a page marked “Mercury March 25th”.

“The financial crisis has ensured that I’m busier than ever,” says Christeen. “People in the City need to know what is just around the corner. I can help with that.”

Christeen is one of a growing, albeit secretive, network of astrologers who work for seemingly conservative British institutions such as high street banks, City investment funds and retailers. Desperate to avoid financial meltdown in the ongoing ‘credit crunch’ and to spot fashions and consumer trends before they start, these institutions have turned to the stars to divine the future.

“Most academics distrust astrology and regard it as mumbo-jumbo,” she says. “The thing is, it works. Nobody’s sure how it works but it does. Most of my clients are businesspeople who are very canny. If it didn’t work for them, then why would they use it?”

One of Christeen’s clients is Judith Levy, chief executive of the High and Mighty retail chain.

“I’m fairly pragmatic,” says Judith. “I will only spend money on an astrologer if the decision I have to take is very important - the kind of decision which will cost me a lot of money if I get it wrong.

“When we launched our Kayak brand a few years ago we used astrology to decide the launch date. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength. It’s one of our best selling brands.”

Astrology is generally seen as just a bit of harmless fun with no predictive power at all. After all, how can a star have any influence over our lives when it is so distant that its light takes hundreds of millions of years just to reach us? The answer to that is simple: it doesn’t.

For believers in heliocentric astrology, the branch of the discipline currently in vogue with business folk and fashion designers alike, it is the planets that appear to have an influence over us not the stars. They maintain that each planet has a subtly different effect on our behaviour, which varies as it sweeps through the zodiac during its journey around the sun.

Mercury, for instance, can be generally positive apart from when it turns ‘retrograde’. This happens when it appears to reverse direction and travel backwards through the zodiac. When this happens, roughly three times a year, communication begins to break down and travel plans may go awry. It’s seen as a celestial spanner in the works.

It’s Mercury’s potential to wreak havoc that has led many world leaders and military figures to plan their lives and campaigns to avoid its influence. Ronald Reagan and Boris Yeltsin would only travel and hold press conferences when the planets, specifically Mercury, dictated.

Hitler, a keen user of astrology, notably failed to take into account Mercury’s influence. He launched the Battle of Britain and planned operation Sealion – the invasion of the UK – just as Mercury turned retrograde. Both mistakes dealt serious blows to his plans for world domination.

Mars seems to have an uncanny correlation with over-achievement for those lucky enough to be born with the planet at certain critical astrological positions. The French statistician Michel Gauquelin discovered that the upper echelons of numerous sports, as well as the medical profession and the military, are stuffed full of people with Mars in these locations. For example, Nick Faldo, OJ Simpson and Muhammad Ali were all born with Mars in the requisite position.

And so far at least, nobody has managed to rubbish Gauquelin’s research.But the effects of the planets pale into insignificance when compared to the influence of the moon, claim astrologers. When the moon is full, a powerful mischievous energy fills our souls, hence the term ‘lunatic’. This is most noticeable on the streets, where drunken violence increases and road casualties peak.

According to the police in Brighton, a full moon brings out the worst in the British hooligan. Cases of anti-social behaviour rise noticeably and commanders routinely deploy more police, hospitals prepare for a rise in casualties from pub brawls, and the fire brigade readies itself for more incidents.

“There is definitely a trend,” says Inspector Andy Parr, who is responsible for patrols in Brighton at weekends. “With each full moon the number of disturbances recorded increases significantly.”

“I'm aware that this is just one of many things that can influence public disorder but if you speak to ambulance staff they will tell you exactly the same,” he says. “It may be dismissed as an old wives' tale but there's plenty of other research to suggest that the moon has an impact on human behavioural patterns.”

There’s some academic evidence to back up these claims too. A study published by German scientists in 2000 claimed the full moon sparked a rise in binge drinking. The scientists checked the police arrest reports and blood-alcohol tests of 16,495 offenders. Most of those with an excess of 2ml of alcohol per 100ml of blood – the definition of drunk under German law - had been caught during the five-day full moon cycle.

Sceptics will no doubt point out that there’s no conceivable mechanism for the moon to affect our behaviour. In other words, astrology is just bunkum.

Professor Chris French, a parapsychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London, certainly thinks so.

“It’s just not true,” he says. “Hundreds of studies disprove astrology. There are all kinds of reasons why people might want to believe in these things for solid psychological reasons but that does not make astrology true.”

Dr Percy Seymour, an astrophysicist recently retired from Plymouth University, disagrees. He’s spent decades studying astrology and has come up with a theory as to how it might actually work. Crucially, his ideas do not violate any of the laws of physics although they may over-tax some people’s credulity.

Dr Seymour believes that low frequency magnetic fields emanating from the sun interact with those of the Earth, which in turn affects the functioning of the human brain.

“The magnetic field of the sun can be affected by the movement and position of the planets,” he says. “Having said all that, I don’t believe that the cosmos controls us but it can influence us.”

It’s a neat theory but does it stand up to scrutiny?

Jim Porter, chief technical analyst for one of the UK’s largest banks, believes it does. He uses heliocentric magi astrology to predict the direction of the international financial markets. Millions of pounds worth of commodities, shares and currencies are traded on his command. His decisions may affect the value of your pension, your home, and perhaps decide whether or not you have a job tomorrow.

When I spoke to him late last year, he told me that the position of the planets indicated a 3.2 percent fall in the American markets. The following week they duly fell 3.5 percent.

“My attitude is that if you can test it, and it works, then it’s just another tool that you can use to predict the direction of the markets,” he says.

“I have tested it and astrology works. Used with other techniques it can give you confidence, and the more confidence you have, the bigger the risks you can take.”

Jim has recently compiled a report for a major central bank charting the likely economic trends of the coming few years. According to Jim’s forecasts, the economy and the financial and housing markets all face a rocky road and have a dismal short-term future.

“At the moment,” he says. “Mars in Cancer is in opposition to Pluto in Capricorn. This indicates a polarisation of opposing sentiments – turmoil, in other words. This cycle ends around 6th April.”

“Sentiment will then recover and will turn down in early August. That phase will last for 4-5 weeks. There will be another shake in October.

“In 2012 we’ll be entering the precession of the equinoxes, which is the most important thing that’s happened in the last 26,000 years. That suggests that something mega is going to happen. There will be a huge change in the world’s psychology caused by a huge natural disaster or a massive change in spiritual beliefs.

“We have an interesting four years ahead of us.”

If you are like me and the rational half of your brain screams ‘It can’t possibly be true!’ whilst the other half is a bit confused, then maybe you should remember that people seem to be making money from astrology. And perhaps that’s the acid test.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Copied below is a horrible AP story that DEMANDS comment by anyone who wants to try. A few excerpts:

"Whether the candidates misunderstood the question or were afraid to talkhonestly about sacrifice in public, their careful answers reflected how mostpoliticians prefer to focus on what they would do for voters rather than whatthey would ask of us. Like the cereal ad that boasted ''eat right, sacrificenothing, ...''

I never heard of that... I like it.

Generations of Americans have been willing to die, or risk death, for causesgreater than themselves -- to liberate the colonies from Britain; to abolishslavery or, depending on the point of view, preserve the Confederacy; to extendU.S. borders in fulfillment of our manifest destiny; to defeat fascism and curbCommunism; and, yes, to dismantle Saddam Hussein's regime.

Give me a break. This is half the problem -- the endless equivocation in our culture between paying a high price for your highest values, versus sacrificing a high value for a lesser one. Or just plain stupidity.

But it would be a mistake toassume there is no stomach for sacrifice -- orits sister virtue, service --

Can anyone spell "gag me with a spoon"?

Whether we're asked to sacrifice individually (join the military, feed the poor,conserve energy) or collectively (mandated national service, cuts in entitlementprograms, a tax on carbon emissions), the next president is likely to find themost receptive audience since John F. Kennedy's ''ask not'' address captivated a generationnearly 50 years ago.

Yeah, that's kind of frightening. "Receptive." Not sure how much I believe that, but then they interview one of members of that audience:

What does sacrifice mean to Kelly Ward? Ask the 27-year-old Harvard graduate andshe'll first argue that she's not personally familiar with the concept....''This isn't a sacrifice because I believe in what I'm doing. I've found whatI was created to do, which is to do my part to change the world,''

So interestingly, Kelly somehow got it partly right. Good for her. Of course, I cut the part about her being part of "America Forward, an alliance of public service organizations". But then there's

What does sacrifice mean to James Appleby? ''I can be without the pint of bloodand help somebody out in a big way,'' says the pharmacist donating blood at theRed Cross building near the White House. ''It's just a sense of duty I have.''

Yes, he's got the concept alright. A pint or blood, a pound of flesh, and a sense of duty Kant would be proud of. And more ...

...he's astonished that anybody would call it a sacrifice. ''Sacrifice issoldiers being away from their families,'' he says. ''THAT'S sacrifice.''

Okay, suffering, too. The magnitude of it. The bigger the better. That's his measure of sacrifice. He understands and is awarded the Mother Teresa Hairshirt Prize for Advanced Self-Flagellation.

None of this is new. Saddled with weak and distant governments, early Americanssince the settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth leaned on each other to tackletough issues -- to feed and protect their communities, heal the sick, teachtheir children, and develop local economies.

The Founding Fathers had altruism in mind when they made the ''pursuit ofhappiness'' an unalienable right in the Declaration of Independence. JohnBridgeland, former volunteerism czar under President Bush, writes in an upcomingbook that the founders were not endorsing momentary pleasures fueled by thepursuit of material goods, ''but the satisfaction that comes from a lifededicated to others and causes greater than ourselves.''

God help us from the Religious Right. They really do love to re-write history. Some assertions probably deserve to be capital crimes.

And the story goes on and on and on in this nauseating vein.

Seriously, I know of no harder case for Objectivists to make, or one that evokes greater indifference or hostility than the idea that sacrifice is wrong. I honestly don't know any "formula" for an argument that works to sell self-interest as a moral ideal to the defenders of the status quo. In my experience, people either have it (at some level) or they don't. (Barring the rare exceptions who go through a long philosophical journey.)

It's sort of like the missing link, except almost *all* the links are missing but for the few sane people who recognize that sacrifice isn't a code of morality, it's a suicide compact. And the links that *aren't* missing are the few rational ones who find it simply uncontroversially self-evident that a self-interested person is someone just pursuing his values for the good of his life...

I'd be interested to see how others can sell the idea of rational self-interest instead of the idiocy that is self-sacrifice -- if they want to write to refute the AP or Times or whatever other newspaper published this ghastly tract.

April 28, 2008Sacrifice: An American virtue on reboundBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFiled at 1:44 p.m. ETIt was a simple question, really, one the debate moderator hoped would lead Republican presidential candidates into a discussion about how much the public was willing to give to benefit the nation. ''What sacrifice,'' she said, ''would you ask Americans to make to lower the country's debt?''

Sacrifice is a word that Americans like to associate with their heritage, their ideals and themselves. But these days, it's not a word that comes easily to the lips of politicians with aspirations to the highest office in the land.''It's absolutely unnecessary to sacrifice,'' said Ron Paul, setting the tone for the December presidential debate.

''Sometimes it's not so much doing things so that people sacrifice,'' said Mike Huckabee, promising to slash spending without pain to a single voter. ''It's doing them differently.''

Nor was Mitt Romney about to ask Americans to give up anything for any cause, much less fiscal discipline. ''The sacrifice that we need from the American people, it's this: It's saying 'Let the programs that don't work go.'''

No Mother Teresas there. Whether the candidates misunderstood the question or were afraid to talk honestly about sacrifice in public, their careful answers reflected how most politicians prefer to focus on what they would do for voters rather than what they would ask of us. Like the cereal ad that boasted ''eat right, sacrifice nothing,'' Washington promises us more services AND lower taxes, more war AND no draft, all gain and no pain.

We live in a time, and in a nation, consumed by consuming, a materialistic culture that encourages people to pursue happiness via shopping sprees and save sacrifice for tithing on Sundays and distant do-gooders.

But it would be a mistake to assume there is no stomach for sacrifice -- or its sister virtue, service -- in our society and in our politics. The desire to serve is part of human nature, and a particularly American virtue. History tells us that our selfless instincts flower in troubled times like these, and can be tapped by leaders looking for ways to motivate an anxious people.

Generations of Americans have been willing to die, or risk death, for causes greater than themselves -- to liberate the colonies from Britain; to abolish slavery or, depending on the point of view, preserve the Confederacy; to extend U.S. borders in fulfillment of our manifest destiny; to defeat fascism and curb Communism; and, yes, to dismantle Saddam Hussein's regime.

Whether we're asked to sacrifice individually (join the military, feed the poor, conserve energy) or collectively (mandated national service, cuts in entitlement programs, a tax on carbon emissions), the next president is likely to find the most receptive audience since John F. Kennedy's ''ask not'' address captivated a generation nearly 50 years ago.

Government data show Americans over the age of 16 are volunteering at historically high rates, with 61 million giving their time to help others by mentoring students, beautifying streets, responding to disasters, and much more.

And social scientists say the so-called 9/11 generation -- the leading edge of which consists of young Americans who were in high school and college when terrorists struck New York and Washington seven years ago -- may be the most civic-minded in the nation's history, in addition to being among most ethnically diverse, technologically savvy and spiritual.

What does sacrifice mean to Kelly Ward? Ask the 27-year-old Harvard graduate and she'll first argue that she's not personally familiar with the concept. Ward runs America Forward, an alliance of public service organizations dedicated to the principle that most of the nation's problems are being solved somewhere -- often by small, community-based nonprofit groups using innovative methods that government could support or copy.

''This isn't a sacrifice because I believe in what I'm doing. I've found what I was created to do, which is to do my part to change the world,'' Ward says while sipping coffee a few blocks from her Cambridge, Mass., office. ''OK, I could make more money, sleep a lot more and have a personal life had I gone into a different line of work. But how's this a sacrifice?''

What does sacrifice mean to Sharon Rohrbach? She says it has blessed her life. After 16 years as a neonatal nurse in St. Louis watching too many newborns leave the hospital and return with life-threatening conditions, Rohrbach took a pay cut to create the Nurses for Newborns Foundation to bring nurses into the homes of poor mothers.

''I think there's something in each of us who wants to make things better for other people,'' she says. ''I get more out of this than I give -- by a longshot.''

What does sacrifice mean to James Appleby? ''I can be without the pint of blood and help somebody out in a big way,'' says the pharmacist donating blood at the Red Cross building near the White House. ''It's just a sense of duty I have.'' But he's astonished that anybody would call it a sacrifice.

''Sacrifice is soldiers being away from their families,'' he says. ''THAT'S sacrifice.''

None of this is new. Saddled with weak and distant governments, early Americans since the settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth leaned on each other to tackle tough issues -- to feed and protect their communities, heal the sick, teach their children, and develop local economies.

The Founding Fathers had altruism in mind when they made the ''pursuit of happiness'' an unalienable right in the Declaration of Independence. John Bridgeland, former volunteerism czar under President Bush, writes in an upcoming book that the founders were not endorsing momentary pleasures fueled by the pursuit of material goods, ''but the satisfaction that comes from a life dedicated to others and causes greater than ourselves.''

Alexis de Tocqueville, in his ''Democracy in America,'' reported in the 1830s that America was a giving nation. ''Every American,'' he wrote, ''will sacrifice a portion of his private interests to preserve the rest.''

Nearly every American president has urged citizens to serve the country and each other. George Washington stated in his farewell address, ''You should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness.'' In his famous ''man in the arena'' speech, Theodore Roosevelt said the conduct of every citizen matters to the health of the republic. Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Depression to give desperate men new jobs and eroded land new trees. John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps.

''On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country,'' Kennedy said in 1961, ''I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete.''

In his State of the Union address after the 2001 terrorist strikes, Bush challenged Americans to commit at least two years ''to the service of your neighbors and your nation'' and created one of the largest service initiatives since FDR's CCC. But after the war with Iraq came, he went silent on service.

While an all-volunteer military is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan -- suffering more than 4,000 U.S. deaths in Iraq alone, tens of thousands of injuries and scores of suicides -- the sacrifice has been largely limited to the troops and their families. No rationing or blackouts that brought World War II to the homefront.

Bush thanks veterans all the time for their sacrifice, but he won't ask Americans to pay higher taxes to foot the war bill. Would it not be a sacrifice to pay more taxes now to protect future generations from mountains of debt?

MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann mocked Bush in 2007 for calling a troop increases in Iraq a measure of sacrifice. ''More American families will have to bear the unbearable and rationalize the unforgivable,'' Olbermann said, spitting the word ''sacrifice'' out in disgust. ''Sacrifice -- sacrifice now, sacrifice tomorrow, sacrifice forever.''

Wartime sacrifice is often uneven. The wealthy could buy themselves proxies during the Civil War, and during the Vietnam War, the well-connected could avoid the draft.

John McCain was held for more than five years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war. He could have gone home earlier, taken advantage of his status as the son and grandson of Navy admirals. But he couldn't bear to leave behind others who had been imprisoned longer.

Many men, it was suggested, would have punched their ticket home.''Yes,'' the GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting said, in an interview. ''But I think many men wouldn't have. ... I really do.''

McCain was on stage during the December GOP debate, but moderator Carolyn Washburn did not ask him the sacrifice question. Months later, she is still surprised that no candidate seized the moment.

''People,'' the Des Moines Register editor says, ''want to serve.''

''When you give of your time to serve your community in some capacity, large or small, you're a patriot in the true sense of the word,'' says former Sen. Bob Dole, who lost the full function of his right arm in World War II. ''You don't have to be shot to make a sacrifice.''

Which brings us back to Kelly Ward, the 27-year-old do-gooder, taking her Ivy League education and putting it to use battling the nation's ills, even as she questions whether this represents any real sacrifice.

She is part of an uplifting cultural trend: Young, highly educated, highly motivated people are bringing their best-business practices to the world of national service -- fighting bureaucracies, lobbying government and spending money like venture capitalists to address the nation's most vexing problems. They call themselves social entrepreneurs, and you can find them in the most desperate corners of America.

In many ways, Ward and her peers are more like the Greatest Generation than their parents' Baby Boom generation.

''This is the next reform generation,'' says E.J. Dionne Jr., a Washington Post columnist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has written extensively about public service. ''The metaphor I think about are the people who started out in service work in settlement houses before the turn of the last century.''

Settlement houses offered social services -- food, shelter and schooling -- for the urban poor and immigrants buffeted by the industrialization of America. Jane Addams was the founder of the settlement movement in America; she spoke of and to young and affluent Americans who yearned to make a difference, and find meaning in their lives.

''The good we secure for ourselves is precarious, is floating in midair, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life,'' she wrote a century ago -- speaking for her own generation and another in the distant future, one that hungers to pull together and help one another, to sacrifice and to serve.

The question is whether they'll be forced to continue to do so on their own, or whether the next president will lead them.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Really, I've got to finish the latest draft of my mega-blockbuster script and get that business plan written so the CIA funds the production. I will pitch it, "An opening salvo in the war of ideas" that they talk so much about. I'm thinking HBO for the mini-series. Now who will produce, direct and star?

Somalia: Ransom paid to pirates for release of Spanish shipBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPublished: April 27, 2008Filed at 7:18 a.m. ETMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Authorities paid pirates a ransom of $1.2 million to win the freedom of a Spanish fishing boat and its 26-member crew seized off the Horn of Africa a week ago, a Somali official said.Suspected pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades had seized control of the tuna-fishing boat from Spain's Basque region last Sunday about 200 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, a region where piracy has escalated recently.

The pirates released the ship Saturday, authorities said. The crew was freed after Spanish authorities paid a $1.2 million ransom, Abdi Khalif Ahmed, chairman of the Haradhere local port authority in central Somalia, said late Saturday.

''The ship is free and the pirates disappeared into their villages,'' he said.However, Spanish officials did not confirm payment of a ransom and said only that there had been negotiations for the crew's release.In Madrid, Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Saturday that the trawler, the 250-foot-long Playa de Bakio, was sailing home escorted by a Spanish frigate. She would not comment on any ransom.

She said the 13 Spaniards and 13 Africans on board the Playa de Bakio were in good health.

The ship's seizure came days after French judges filed preliminary charges against six Somali pirates accused of holding 30 hostages aboard a French luxury yacht for a week.

The crew of the yacht Le Ponant was freed April 11 off the coast of Somalia. The ship's owners reportedly paid a ransom to get the crew released.De la Vega said the Spanish government would take up the subject of maritime piracy at a European Union meeting Tuesday.

"One factor being blamed for the price hikes is the use of governmentsubsidies to promote the use of corn for ethanol production. An estimated 30% ofAmerica’s corn crop now goes to fuel, not food."

And hominy grits is gittin' 'spensive.

“...It takes around 400 pounds of corn to make 25 gallons of ethanol,” Mr.Senauer, also an applied economics professor at Minnesota, said. “It’s not going to be a very good diet but that’s roughly enough to keep an adult person alive for a year.”

Light up the still, Homer, and lets have some of that 'shine!

"In Britain, some hunger-relief and environmental groups haveturned sharply against biofuels. “Setting mandatory targets for biofuels beforewe are aware of their full impact is madness,” Philip Bloomer of Oxfam told the BBC.

I don't need to tell anyone here how bad biofuels are, do I? I mean, you could cover the planet in corn and never make enough of the stuff to replace petroleum. A solution from the Ma Chalmers faction of political lobbying. (She of fame in Atlas Shrugged for her lobbying efforts to promote soybeans as the cure-all of America's ills. Except for that part about causing everyone in the country to starve.)

Food Crisis Starts Eclipsing Climate Change WorriesGore Ducks, as a Backlash Builds Against BiofuelsBy JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the SunApril 25, 2008The campaign against climate change could be set back by the global food crisis, as foreign populations turn against measures to use foodstuffs as substitutes for fossil fuels.

With prices for rice, wheat, and corn soaring, food-related unrest has broken out in places such as Haiti, Indonesia, and Afghanistan. Several countries have blocked the export of grain. There is even talk that governments could fall if they cannot bring food costs down.

One factor being blamed for the price hikes is the use of government subsidies to promote the use of corn for ethanol production. An estimated 30% of America’s corn crop now goes to fuel, not food.

“I don’t think anybody knows precisely how much ethanol contributes to the run-up in food prices, but the contribution is clearly substantial,” a professor of applied economics and law at the University of Minnesota, C. Ford Runge, said. A study by a Washington think tank, the International Food Policy Research Institute, indicated that between a quarter and a third of the recent hike in commodities prices is attributable to biofuels.

Last year, Mr. Runge and a colleague, Benjamin Senauer, wrote an article in Foreign Affairs, “How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor.”

“We were criticized for being alarmist at the time,” Mr. Runge said. “I think our views, looking back a year, were probably too conservative.”Ethanol was initially promoted as a vehicle for America to cut back on foreign oil. In recent years, biofuels have also been touted as a way to fight climate change, but the food crisis does not augur well for ethanol’s prospects.

“It takes around 400 pounds of corn to make 25 gallons of ethanol,” Mr. Senauer, also an applied economics professor at Minnesota, said. “It’s not going to be a very good diet but that’s roughly enough to keep an adult person alive for a year.”

Mr. Senauer said climate change advocates, such as Vice President Gore, need to distance themselves from ethanol to avoid tarnishing the effort against global warming.

“Crop-based biofuels are not part of the solution. They, in fact, add to the problem. Whether Al Gore has caught up with that, somebody ought to ask him,” the professor said. “There are lots of solutions, real solutions to climate change. We need to get to those.”Mr. Gore was not available for an interview yesterday on the food crisis, according to his spokeswoman. A spokesman for Mr. Gore’s public campaign to address climate change, theAlliance for Climate Protection, declined to comment for this article.However, the scientist who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mr. Gore, Rajendra Pachauri of the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, has warned that climate campaigners are unwise to promote biofuels in a way that risks food supplies.

“We should be very, very careful about coming up with biofuel solutions that have major impact on production of food grains and may have an implication for overall food security,” Mr. Pachauri told reporters last month, according to Reuters.

“Questions do arise about what is being done in North America, for instance, to convert corn into sugar then into biofuels, into ethanol.”In an interview last year, Mr. Gore expressed his support for corn-based ethanol, but endorsed moving to what he called a “third generation” of so-called cellulosic ethanol production, which is still in laboratory research. “It doesn’t compete with food crops, so it doesn’t put pressure on food prices,” the former vice president told Popular Mechanics magazine.

A Harvard professor of environmental studies who has advised Mr. Gore, Michael McElroy, warned in a November-December 2006 article in Harvard Magazine that “the production of ethanol from either corn or sugar cane presents a new dilemma: whether the feedstock should be devoted to food or fuel. With increasing use of corn and sugar cane for fuel, a rise in related food prices would seem inevitable.” The article, “The Ethanol Illusion” went so far as to praise Senator McCain for summing up the corn-ethanol energy initiative launched in the United States in 2003 as “highway robbery perpetrated on the American public by Congress.”

In Britain, some hunger-relief and environmental groups have turned sharply against biofuels. “Setting mandatory targets for biofuels before we are aware of their full impact is madness,” Philip Bloomer of Oxfam told the BBC.

Biofuel advocates say they are being made a bogeyman for a food crisis that has much more to do with record oil prices, surging demand in the developing world, and unusual weather patterns. “The people who seek to solely blame ethanol for the food crisis and the rising price of food that we see across the globe are taking a terribly simplistic look at this very complex issue,” Matthew Hartwig of the Renewable Fuels Association said.

Mr. Hartwig said oil companies and food manufacturers are behind the attempt to undercut ethanol. “There is a concerted misinformation campaign being put out there by those people who are threatened by ethanol’s growing prominence in the marketplace,” he said.

The most obvious impact the food crisis has had in America, aside from higher prices, is the imposition of rationing at some warehouse stores to deal with a spike in demand for large quantities of rice, oil, and flour. The CEO of Costco Wholesale Corp., James Sinegal, is blaming press hype for the buying limits, which were first reported Monday in The New York Sun.

“If it hadn’t been picked up and become so prominent in the news, I doubt that we would have had the problems that we’re having in trying to limit it at this point,” Mr. Sinegal told Fox News Thursday. “I mean, I can’t believe the amount of attention that is being paid to this.”

The Sun’s article, which came as food riots were reported abroad, circulated quickly on the Internet, was republished in newspapers as far away as India, and prompted local and network television stories.

Speaking in Kansas City, Mo., yesterday, the federal agriculture secretary, Edward Schafer, blamed emotion for the spurt of rice buying at warehouse stores. “We don’t see any evidence of the lack of availability of rice. There are no supply issues,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

"French troops caught the pirates April 11 in a land chase in Somalia. Abouthalf a dozen other pirates escaped."

Must have been Legionnaires...

"Somali authorities granted speedy extraditions so the pirates could be broughtto France. "

Give me a break. Ya mean some warlord didn't want to get his head blowed off by a mercenary singing La Marseillaise.

"The pirates arrived in Paris two days after the 22 French members of the crewreturned home, greeted by President Nicolas Sarkozy who had taken personal charge ofthe crisis. ...France wants to take the lead in battling piracy on the highseas. "

PARIS (AP) -- Six Somali pirates captured after the rescue of hostages aboard a French luxury yacht arrived in Paris on Wednesday for eventual trial, police said.

The six were brought to France aboard a military plane and quickly placed in detention.

French troops caught the pirates April 11 in a land chase in Somalia. About half a dozen other pirates escaped.

The 30-member crew of the 288-foot Le Ponant, held for a week, was freed apparently in exchange for a ransom from the yacht's owners, widely reported by the French press to be about $2 million. French troops recovered sacks of money during the pirates' capture, France's chief of defense staff said.

The pirates arrived in Paris two days after the 22 French members of the crew returned home, greeted by President Nicolas Sarkozy who had taken personal charge of the crisis.

Crew members have said the armed pirates were not violent toward their hostages.

The crew was followed everywhere, including to the bathroom, and ''everything aboard had to be negotiated,'' the daily Le Parisien quoted a crew member, identified as pastry chef Abder, as saying. The pirates killed time cleaning their weapons, Abder was quoted as saying.

For food, they brought four live goats aboard and slaughtered them on the luxury vessel, he was quoted as saying.

The pirates can be held for up to 96 hours for preliminary questioning. After that, they could be presented to judges who will decide whether to file preliminary charges against them and keep them in pretrial detention.France wants to take the lead in battling piracy on the high seas. It plans to press for U.N. measures to fight pirate attacks in such dangerous zones as the Gulf of Aden, where the attack occurred.

Somali authorities granted speedy extraditions so the pirates could be brought to France. Paris was in contact with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf throughout the crisis, and apprehended the pirates with the ''full accord'' of the Somali leader, the Foreign Ministry has said.

The French prosecutors office opened a preliminary inquiry Monday into possible charges of hijacking a vessel and taking hostages to seek a ransom and as part of an organized gang. Such charges carry maximum sentences of life in prison.